How I Escaped from a Gangster’s Cage
(Kelly's POV)
Rashad drove me to this secluded warehouse after the masquerade ball. I was sitting and staring at the quiet room I was in, feeling trapped and hopeless.
His men were all dressed in black and armed with rifles and pistols. They all looked like they were guarding me. Some of them had dreadlocks, some had braids, most had tattoos. They were all part of his gang, from the look of things.
Rashad, who claimed to be my boyfriend, was treating me like his prisoner. He kept me in this room, locked and guarded by several ugly men with tattoos all over their bodies. He wasn't in the room.
He didn't care if those monster-looking men hurt me. Unable to contain myself, I weakly bowed my head and I sighed so deeply, wondering about what mess I'd just gotten myself into.
I wished I could go back to the day I accepted and said. Rashad was a brute, someone who pretended to love me in public but abused me in private.
Right now, he was on the balcony, smoking a big cigar. He looked relaxed and happy, as if he had no worries in the world. It was clear he didn't care about me, or anyone else.
While I was on the soft bed where he had placed me, it was supposed to be comfortable, but it felt like a cage. On the bed, there was a tray of food that he had ordered his boys to get for me. It was supposed to be delicious, but it looked like poison.
I stared out of the window, seeing Rashad bending and making calls for several minutes. He was talking to someone, probably his boss or his allies. He was planning something, something big and bad.
I felt a chill in my spine, wondering what he was up to. I wondered if he was going to hurt me, or someone else. I wondered if he was going to start a war, or end one.
I felt a tear in my eye, wishing I could escape. Deep down in my heart I wished I could just run away from him, from this place, from this life.
But that was impossible. I felt a numbness in my soul, losing hope. I had no hope of getting out of this situation, no hope of changing him, no hope of living a normal life.
After many minutes, he tossed his cigar and headed back in. I saw him coming from the window and quickly forced her to eat. She heard his loud and bold voice as he entered the room.
"We'll be here for a few days," he said. "I have something I'm running here. Once that's settled, we'll move to our mansion."
On hearing his statement, I rolled my eyes at him, feeling a surge of anger rise in me. His words made me want to punch him in the face.
He saw my reaction, and scowled.
"Take her," he snapped. "I have something to show you."
He had one of his boys drag me along with him to the other side of the warehouse. He ordered one of his guards to follow us. The guard nodded obediently.
As soon as we reached the other side of the warehouse, I saw a scene that made me sick. There were more boys, more rifles, and a lot of drugs.
There were bundles of coke, bags of weed, boxes of pills, all sorts of narcotics that he had his guys packaging there.
Rashad was running a drug operation, and he was proud of it. I was appalled by that.
He pushed me roughly into the middle of the room, and made me stand there, looking at me with a smug smile.
"Look at all this here," he said proudly. "This is what I'm running here."
He paused… then continued.
"This right here is business, my business!"
He saw my blank expression, but he ignored it.
He pointed at a pile of money that he had stacked on a table. They were fresh $100 bills, crisp and clean.
The money I was seeing coming from different corners of this particular room was more money than I had ever seen in my life. It was enough to buy a small town.
He smiled again, thinking he had impressed me. But all this wasn't impressive; they were so scary.
He tossed his almost finished cigar on my body and was laughing. I couldn't stand this; I was so not herself. But I stood there anyway, trying to hide my fear and disgust.
I looked away from him a little and saw huge, light skin on a white shirt. He is probably the only dude I've seen with a white shirt on.
This dude was staring at me with pleading eyes, from his facial expressions I felt he wanted me to do something that would do something to stop him.
But I was powerless. There was really nothing I could do.
While I was standing, lost, staring at this huge fine dude with a bald head, Rashad wrapped his arm around me and pulled me closer to him.
He whispered in my ear, "You see, baby? This is how I make my money. This is how I live my life. And you're going to be a part of it, whether you like it or not."
He kissed me hard on the lips, making me gag. He laughed again, enjoying my discomfort.
He then turned to his boys and said, "Let's go, boys. We have a delivery to make."
He dragged me out of the warehouse. I was still alive, but barely. I felt the burn of his cigar on my skin, and the blood from my wounds.
While he dragged me and I followed sheepishly, I turned and looked at the huge guy on white shirt, who was still staring at me. He had a look of pity and regret on his face. He seemed to want to help me, but he was too afraid of Rashad.
He mouthed something to me, but I couldn't hear him. He looked like he was saying "I'm sorry".
He then turned away and followed the other boys stacking the bundle of drugs they had on the table.
A few of Rashad's boys got into their cars and drove off, leaving me alone in the warehouse, but in the other room guarded by "one, two, three, four, five, six, seven." Seven! Ugly men, a few of them had bandanas covering half of their faces.
I was terrified of what they would do to me. They looked at me with lust and greed in their eyes. They knew I was Rashad's property, but they didn't care. They wanted a piece of me, too.
They started to move closer to me, making lewd comments and gestures. I backed away from them, until I hit the wall. I had nowhere to go.
I screamed for help, but no one heard me. I was alone and helpless.
Suddenly, I heard a loud bang. The door to the room was kicked open. I saw a flash of light and heard gunshots.
I closed my eyes and covered my ears, expecting the worst.